Spring Fare Comes Early at Canada Blooms

Top Ontario chefs showcase garden to table recipes at CN Tower Culinary Stage

February 2008 – Toronto, ON – After a long Canadian winter, top chefs and home-cooks eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring fare in their local markets and grocery stores. This year, spring will come early at the Canada Blooms’ CN Tower Culinary Stage as 360 Restaurant Executive Chef Peter George and other top Ontario chefs showcase their own signature cooking styles. Fresh produce and products will be provided to Canada Blooms by Sobeys.

“Cooking with seasonal, regional ingredients has always been an important part of the award-winning cuisine at 360,” says Peter George, Executive Chef, 360 The Restaurant at the CN Tower. “At the CN Tower Culinary Stage you’ll be inspired to make local pro-duce and garden specialties at their peak of freshness a delicious part of your meal preparation. Whether your garden to table ingredi-ents are grown in your garden or by local farmers – cooking seasonally also presents a budget-friendly and sustainable option.”

Chef George’s recipes will be inspired by the variety of annual herbs grown on grown onsite at the CN Tower Herb Gardens.

In addition, the culinary stage will feature a number of Ontario’s top chefs and food personalities, including Anna Olsen from the Food Network Canada’s Sugar, cheese and wine experts Gurth Pretty & Tony Aspler and Toby Nemeth, Executive Chef, Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.

“Many of the garden-lovers who visit Canada Blooms each year are also epicureans. With a growing focus on locally grown produce and garden to table cooking, the CN Tower Culinary stage is a natural fit for this year’s Canada Blooms,” says Gerry Ginsberg, General Manager, Canada Blooms.

The CN Tower Culinary Stage at will be open from 11 am to 6 pm each day during the Canada Blooms five-day festival. The schedule includes:

1 cup maple glazed butternut squash (recipe below)
½ cup toasted pepitas (Green pumpkin seeds)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon milk
1½ tablespoons butter
1 egg
Vanilla
Salt to taste

Beat the above together leaving little chunks of butter
Evenly distribute the maple glazed squash in the tart shells
Top the squash with toasted pumpkin seeds
Fill the tart shells 2/3 full with the filling
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes at 400 degrees

1 tablespoon sweet butter
1 teaspoon good olive oil
1 cup peeled and ¼ inch diced butternut squash
2 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

In a large sauté pan heat the olive oil
Add the butter and heat until it foams
Add the squash and sauté until it starts to caramelize and become tender
Add the maple syrup and glaze the squash
Remove from the heat and toss with the fresh rosemary
Allow to cool before filling in the tarts

5 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 lbs tender flake lard chilled
1 egg beaten in the bottom of a one cup measure
Add ice water and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to fill the cup

Sift the flour and salt together
Cut the lard into little pieces
Add ½ the lard to the flour mixture and with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like corn meal
Add the remaining lard and blend until the mixture looks like small peas
Add the egg, water and vinegar mixture a little at a time
Mix the dough with a fork until a ball forms
Knead the dough lightly on a slightly floured board
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour to allow the gluten to relax
Roll out the dough and line the tart shells
The dough keeps for two days in the fridge or several weeks in the freezer

About Canadaa Blooms
Now in its twelfth year, Canada Blooms Festival was originally founded by Landscape Ontario and The Garden Club of Toronto to bring together the very best of the garden industry and community. Each year it is supported by a committed group of partners, sponsors and volunteers. Canada Blooms is a not-for-profit organization that gives back to the community throughout the year by funding community garden projects around Ontario. 2008 proceeds will support the new Woodland Walk Entrance Garden at the Toronto Botanical Gar-den. Canada Blooms is also dedicated to providing the community with horticulture expertise, education and resources on an ongoing basis.

About the CN Tower
Defining Toronto’s skyline at 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 in.) and the world’s tallest for 32+ years, Canada’s National Tower is an architectural triumph, engineering Wonder and world renowned dining and entertainment destination. Breathtaking views from Look Out, Glass Floor and Sky Pod, theatre, ride, shopping and award-winning dining at 360 The Restaurant at the CN Tower – it’s Toronto’s must see.

About Sobeys Inc.
Sobeys Inc. is a leading national grocery retailer and food distributor headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. A wholly-owned subsid-iary of Empire Company Limited (TSX:EMP.A), Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,300 stores in all 10 provinces under retail ban-ners that include Sobeys, IGA, Foodland, Price Chopper and Thrifty Foods, as well as Lawtons Drug Stores. Sobeys Inc. is committed to providing the most worthwhile experience for its customers, employees, franchisees, suppliers and shareholders. More information on Sobeys Inc. can be found at www.sobeys.com.